Jury begins deliberations in Michael Rafferty murder trial

Linda Nguyen, Postmedia News05.10.2012

An April 18, 2012 handout photo of Michael Rafferty. The jury that will soon be deliberating in the case of the man accused of killing eight-year-old Victoria Stafford is being told to disregard a defence proposition.

Two years ago, Rafferty's ex-girlfriend, Terri-Lynne McClintic, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Stafford's death. The 21-year-old was sentenced to life in prison.

Stafford vanished outside an elementary school in Woodstock, Ont., on April 8, 2009.

Her badly bludgeoned body was found on July 19, 2009, wrapped in garbage bags and buried under a rock pile in a field near Mount Forest, Ont., more than two hours north of where she was last seen.

The little girl was found wearing a Hannah Montana T-shirt and no pants or underwear.

Heeney cautioned jurors that their decision should not be based on the horrific nature of the crimes or any sympathy they might feel for the young girl or her family.

"It is your duty to rise above emotional considerations and dispassionately decide this case based solely on the evidence," he said.

Much of the judge's charge was spent explaining the options the jury has before them.

He told them they could decide if Rafferty is guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter if they believe he was the one who wielded the hammer, or helped or encouraged McClintic to kill the child.

Rafferty can be found guilty of first-degree murder only if the jury believes Stafford's murder was planned and deliberate, or occurred during the course of a sexual assault or abduction.

They also must decide if Rafferty raped Stafford, which McClintic alleges, and whether he was aware he was participating in her confinement, said Heeney.

Rafferty also could be acquitted of all or some of the charges against him if the jury does not feel the Crown have proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The intricate legal reasoning behind these conclusions were laid out in "decision trees" or diagrams that were passed out to the jury to help them reach their verdict.

From the start, prosecutors have contended that Rafferty and McClintic were part of a "murderous duo" whose "calculated" decisions led to the death of the bubbly, blond girl.

During six days on the stand, McClintic testified in disturbing detail for the Crown against her former lover.

She told the court she was the woman in the white ski jacket seen walking with the girl on surveillance video after school on April 8, 2009.

That day, she said she was dropped off at the school by Rafferty and told to get someone young, because they would be easier to manipulate.

Stafford was the first girl she saw.

That day was supposed to be the first time she was to walk home by herself.

McClintic approached the girl and asked her if she liked dogs, and whether she was interested in meeting a Shih Tzu named Precious.

As the two walked towards Rafferty's car, which was parked down the street at a nearby nursing home, McClintic told the girl to call her "T." As they crossed the street, McClintic said the child grabbed her hand.

When they got to the car, she shoved Stafford inside and made her crouch on the floor of the vehicle, covered her with a black pea coat.

"Keep her f---ing covered," Rafferty allegedly yelled at McClintic as they drove out of Woodstock along Highway 401.

When they arrived in Guelph, Ont., Rafferty went into a friend's house to buy drugs.

They then drove to a Home Depot where McClintic got out buy an hammer and garbage bags.

Surveillance video played in court showed the young woman walk idly in the aisles of the construction store, and casually pays for an orange handle hammer and box of green garbage bags at a self-check counter.

They then made their way to a secluded clearing near Mount Forest.

Up a dirt laneway, and away from the main road and homes, it was there where Stafford was repeatedly raped, according to McClintic's testimony.

"I knew what was going to happen and I didn't want to be there for what was going to happen," she told the court in a wavering voice.

McClintic said she heard screams coming from the car as she stood about 10 to 15 feet away in the snow.

At one point, Rafferty called her back to the car and took the girl away from him so she could use the washroom. She testified that she saw blood drip onto the snow from the young girl's privates.

When she was done, the girl begged her to stay with her. McClintic brought the girl back to the car and tried to hold her hand as the sexual assault continued, she told the court.

It was too much for bear and she left, abandoning the girl.

But the screams forced her to look back and recall her own childhood molestation.

"I realized I needed to do something," she testified on March 13, her low voice breaking.

"When I turned to the vehicle, when I saw what was going on, all I saw was myself when I was that age and all the anger and hate and rage that I had . . . that I built up towards myself came boiling out of me."

After Rafferty was finished, Tori was "tossed" on the ground outside the car.

That was when she decided to put a garbage bag over the little girl's head before wielding the hammer. At the time, Tori was only wearing a Hannah Montana T-shirt and did not have on any pants or shoes.

Rafferty had already told her that Tori was going to pose a problem for them.

"We can't just keep her and we can't take her back," McClintic recalled him saying.

Until January 2012, she had maintained that it was Rafferty who had kicked, stomped and fatally struck the girl multiple times in the skull with a hammer.

The defence argues there is no evidence to prove that Rafferty urged McClintic to take the child for his sexual pleasure or that he knew he was literally driving the girl to her death.

McClintic was repeatedly attacked by the defence for being a drug-addicted, troubled young women with a propensity for violence. Both sides have agreed that parts of her testimony may have been fabricated.

Justice Heeney reminded jurors that Rafferty's character should not be a factor in the case. This was presented in court when more than a dozen girlfriends testified about his behaviour in the days and weeks following Stafford's death.

"No jury will ever be in a better position to decide upon the facts of this case than you," he told them.

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